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Lawn & Garden Best Practices

There are many things you can do to reduce stormwater pollution while keeping your lawn beautiful. Protect local creeks, the Bay, and the ocean by following these practices in your yard:

  • Over-watering your lawn not only increases water use and cost, but it may also lead to pest and weed problems. Make sure you are properly irrigating your lawn. Click here for tips on how to maintain a healthy lawn.
  • Feed your soil by leaving grass clippings on the lawn (also known as grasscycling). This acts as a natural fertilizer and good source of nutrients for your lawn while contributing to the zero-waste cycle.
  • If grasscycling isn’t for you, make sure to compost leaves, grass clippings, and other yard waste instead of blowing, sweeping, or hosing them into the street.
  • Use non-chemical strategies for controlling weeds. Click here for a guide on controlling weeds in your outdoor space.
  • Apply a layer of compost to control erosion and help remove pollutants such as heavy metals, nitrogen, grease, and oil from stormwater runoff. Compost also helps retain soil moisture, which can further cutback your water use.
  • Avoid the use of synthetic fertilizers.

Interested in learning more? Check out our relevant webinar recordings below.

Gardening in a Changing Climate” – get your garden ready for any weather event—sunshine, drought, heat wave, rainfall, or flood.

“Drought-Proof Your Garden Now for Spring and Summer” – covers steps we can take to bolster the health of our gardens to be able to withstand long dry periods.

“Water Wise Gardening & Landscaping” – discusses the basics of irrigation, soil health, irrigation practices, and rain harvesting techniques.

Bay-Friendly Gardening

Download a copy of Bay-Friendly Gardening: From Your Backyard to the Bay for more in-depth ideas for your yard, garden, and landscape. (Note: Bay-Friendly Gardening is a trademark and servicemark developed and owned by StopWaste.org of Alameda County)

Tips & Resources

LAWN CARE

Tips

  1. Choose appropriate grass species for the Bay Area: Tall fescue, Bermuda grass, St. Augustinegrass, or Buffalograss.
  2. Water your lawn slowly after checking the moisture of your soil. The top 2-3 inches of soil should be almost dry to the touch.
  3. Avoid “Weed & Feed” fertilizers; instead, keep grass growing vigorously to crowd out weeds (don’t overcut), and use corn gluten meal in spring or fall to prevent broadleaf weeds.

Resources

Troubleshooting lawn problems

Tips For A Healthy, Beautiful Lawn

 

WEED CONTROL

Tips

  1. Keep the soil between your plants covered with a thick layer of mulch: compost, leaves, sawdust, straw, newspaper, cardboard or weed control fabric.
  2. Hand weed when plants are small and soil is moist. Use a shovel, hoe, mower or rototiller to turn the soil and remove weeds as needed.
  3. Vigorous ground covers and plants with dense foliage can shade the ground so that weed seeds have difficulty germinating.

Resources

How to Control Weeds

GROWING A HEALTHY GARDEN

Tips

  1. Understand the soil conditions in your yard. Know the soil conditions, sun/shade, and water requirements of the plants you intend to grow.
  2. Planting: Don’t pile soil around the plant any higher than the crown, and avoid planting in a depression where water can run down and cause rot.
  3. Care: Water thoroughly. Use mulch to provide organic matter to the soil. Use slow-release fertilizers sparingly if soil test indicates a specific deficiency.

Resources

ReScape California 

California Native Plant Society

California Invasive Plant Council

Planting A Healthy Garden

Yerba Buena Nursery

ROSES

Tips

  1. Choose the right rose for our climate—some roses are difficult to grow in the cool and foggy summers of our coastal climate.  Check with your local nursery, rose societies, or Master Gardeners for suggestions. 
  2. Plant roses properly. Roses need 6 hours of direct sunlight per day and good water drainage.
  3. Roses prefer slightly acidic soil pH of 6.2-6.8. Fertilize with alfalfa meal, cottonseed meal, blood meal, or bat guano to acidify the soil.

Resources

American Rose Society 

Growing Beautiful Roses